People pay their respects and look at the floral tributes positioned at the bandstand in Clapham Common on Sunday, March 14, 2021, in reminiscence of Sarah Everard who was kidnapped and murdered after final being seen strolling residence from a pal’s condo in south London on the evening of March 3. Hundreds of individuals in London defied coronavirus restrictions Saturday to pay their respects to Everard who disappeared whereas strolling residence and was discovered useless per week later. (AP Photo/Tony Hicks)
London’s Metropolitan Police was under heavy pressure Sunday to elucidate its actions throughout a vigil for a lady whom one of many pressure’s personal officers is accused of murdering.
Hundreds defied coronavirus restrictions to assemble and protest violence towards girls, however the occasion ended with clashes between police and people attending.
Home Secretary Priti Patel stated scenes from Saturday’s vigil in south London have been “upsetting” and she or he is in search of a full report on what occurred from the Metropolitan Police. The capital’s mayor, Sadiq Khan, stated the police response was “at instances neither acceptable nor proportionate.”
Police have been seen struggling with some girls at the occasion, and one lady was seen pinned to the bottom by two officers. Several girls have been led away in handcuffs as different attendees chanted “Shame on you” at police. The pressure later stated 4 folks have been arrested for violating public order and coronavirus rules.
Many of these attending the vigil have been already hostile to police as a result of a serving Metropolitan Police officer, Wayne Couzens, was charged with the kidnap and homicide of Sarah Everard, a 33-year-old lady who vanished March 3 whereas strolling residence in London. Her physique was present in woodland in Kent, southeast of London, per week later.
The case has sparked a nationwide outcry and a heated debate on girls’s security. Organizers had deliberate an official vigil at Clapham Common, close to the place Everard was final seen alive, however have been pressured to cancel the occasion due to COVID-19 restrictions. An enormous crowd turned up Saturday nonetheless.
Defending the pressure’s actions, Assistant Commissioner Helen Ball stated “a whole bunch of individuals have been packed tightly collectively,” posing a really actual danger of transmitting the virus. She added that officers had repeatedly inspired these attending to go away, however “a small minority” of individuals chanted at police, pushing and throwing objects.
“We settle for that the actions of our officers have been questioned,” Ball stated. “We completely didn’t wish to be ready the place enforcement motion was essential. But we have been positioned on this place due to the overriding want to guard folks’s security.”
Couzens, 48, appeared in court docket Saturday for the primary time. He was remanded in custody and has one other look scheduled Tuesday at London’s Central Criminal Court.
The Metropolitan Police has stated it’s “deeply disturbing” that certainly one of its personal was a suspect within the case. The pressure stated Couzens joined its ranks in 2018 and most not too long ago served within the parliamentary and diplomatic safety command, an armed unit liable for guarding embassies within the capital and Parliament.
Everard was final seen strolling residence from a pal’s condo in south London at about 10:30 p.m. on March 3. Her physique was discovered hidden in an space of woodland in Kent, greater than 50 miles southeast of London, on Wednesday. A autopsy examination is underway, police stated Friday.
